


Unheard Regrets

by Ashrel



Category: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Light Angst, Regret, Sad with a Happy Ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-16
Updated: 2020-10-16
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:22:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 857
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27050395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ashrel/pseuds/Ashrel
Summary: Ever wonder why the King stayed behind when Zelda could have told Link about the Calamity? Maybe he, just like the other ghosts, has a regret keeping him behind.
Relationships: King Rhoam Bosphoramus Hyrule & Zelda
Comments: 1
Kudos: 13





	Unheard Regrets

There wasn’t much left for Link on the Great Plateau, having completed all the shrines, and he had been instructed to find the old man at the broken, decrepit temple that Link had passed by a couple of times.

The guardian husks lying on the ground put Link on edge, but none of them were activated, and the only things he had to fight against were the occasional lone bokoblin, all of them red. A large statue of the goddess stood at the back of the ruined building, and as Link stared at it, it glowed, just barely enough for it to catch his eye.

As he approached it, he felt the urge to pray, and giving into his instincts, he knelt. The light grew brighter, spotlighting on the statue as he felt a presence inside his mind.

“You who have conquered the shrines and claimed their Spirit Orbs. I can offer you great power. What would you prefer?” Without hesitation, Link replied, not knowing where the words came from.

“A heart container.” As he said this, he watched as the Spirit Orbs he held were taken by the statue, and in return it spat out a heart encased in gold. As he touched it, it disappeared, but in return he felt stronger than before, the cuts and bruises on his body disappearing.

He didn’t get much time to linger on what had just happened, as he heard a yell from above. Looking up, he saw the old man standing on the roof, peering into the large hole above him.

“Come up here, I want to talk to you.” The old man’s head disappeared from the hole, and Link scrambled to get up onto the roof. As he pulled himself up, he saw the old man standing at the front of the temple, where the roof sloped upwards into a small tower.

As he reached the old man, the old man turned, chuckling to himself.

“Well done there, young one!” He clutched onto the stick he held, teal flames starting to appear around him. “Now then... The time has come to show you who I truly am.”

His face set in grim seriousness, he stared Link in the eyes. “I was King Rhoam Bosphoramus Hyrule. I was... the last leader of Hyrule. A kingdom which no longer exists.” The teal flames around him circled him, before light flooded every crevice in Link’s vision.

As he blinked and opened his eyes once more, hand covering his face to protect from the light, he saw the old man standing there, but this time dressed in royal clothes, with a crown adorning the white hair that cascaded down his shoulders, and a long beard. Instinctively, he knew that this was no longer the old man speaking to him, but a ghost of the last leader. Instead of wearing dingy clothes, stained with mud, his clothes were pristine, like when he had died he had never spilled any blood, and he was slightly transparent.

Blue sparks and embers glowed around him, flowing as the breeze directed them, and he regarded Link with a serious expression.

“The Great Calamity was merciless... It devastated everything in its path, lo, a century ago. It was then that my life was taken away from me. And since that time, here I have remained, in spirit form. I did not think it wise to overwhelm you while your memory was still fragile. So rather than that, I thought it was best to assume a temporary form.” 

Link listened intently as the king explained the story of Calamity Ganon, and how they had followed their ancestors, pride and foolishness being their downfall. And as the king talked, there was an unmistakable sense of pride and pain in his voice as he spoke of his daughter, Zelda, who was still alive and protecting the people of Hyrule with her power.

And as Link watched as the king pointed to where the castle was, the dark foreboding sense that he had gained when seeing it reappearing, he wanted to demand more answers. 

He was supposed to defeat this thing that had plagued Hyrule for a century, and yet here he was, standing in ragged clothes, wielding a tree cutters axe, and confused as the king wove a tale of sadness.

But yet, as the king spoke, he couldn’t shake the feeling that it was his duty to do this. 

And so, as he accepted the paraglider that the king gifted him, and jumped out of the temple, gliding off of the Great Plateau, he didn’t hear the king’s last words.

“Tell my daughter that I’m sorry...” was all he heard, before the wind whispered into his ears, and whisked him away.

“And that I love her.” The king finished.

Rhoam Hyrule sat heavily as he started to fade away, the wind taking him as if he were ashes from the remains of a great fire, and smiled.

Maybe, one day, when his daughter and him were reunited, he would get to apologize to her.

Maybe, he would get to see her again.

Maybe, just maybe, she would forgive him.


End file.
